SMOKE SEASON

LA-based indie duo, Smoke Season, talk about capturing all the nuances of their songs in the studio.

Scroll down

THE SMOKE SEASON SIGNATURE

Jason Rosen’s early musical inspiration came from listening to the harmonies of The Beatles’ Don’t Let Me Down, while Gabrielle Wortman trained as a classical pianist. They both studied film scoring at college, which explains the fully immersive experience they create in their live performances and studio recordings.

Smoke Season describe their latest single Wolves as a “love song about a super toxic relationship.”

“We intentionally wanted to make the verses restrained – like all the passive aggressive things that happen when there’s a lot of tension in a relationship. And the choruses are the arguments. Then at the end it’s just like the explosion!”

360 DEGREE SOUND

“With this track we wanted to capture a feeling of movement, because we wanted people to dance to it when we play it live. So a lot of the percussive elements move, like the sounds are moving,” explains Gabrielle, talking about the panning of different sounds and the emotional response this creates.

It’s super important for us that listeners hear as close to the studio mix as possible because all the details are what give it its signature.

Smoke Season

CAPTURE EVERY NUANCE

"It wasn't a straightforward recording process…we wanted to take our time really crafting and making sure we got these unique, interesting sounds. High quality is delicate – it’s like a fragile piece of art in some ways. So you’re not going to pick up on those details if the audio quality is lower or if the fidelity isn’t maintained."

The artist story

CAPTURE EVERY NUANCE

"It wasn't a straightforward recording process…we wanted to take our time really crafting and making sure we got these unique, interesting sounds. High quality is delicate – it’s like a fragile piece of art in some ways. So you’re not going to pick up on those details if the audio quality is lower or if the fidelity isn’t maintained."

SINGLE LAUNCH SHOW & INSTAGRAM TAKEOVER

MQA followers got a glimpse of ‘a day in the life’ of the band on tour, all shot using the Essential phone.